And he said the model for marriage continues to be Muhammad, who married one of his wives when she was but 6.

The video comes from a broadcast on LBC Television on June 19, according to the MEMRI report.

Al-Mu’bi said, “Marriage is actually two things: First we are talking about the marriage contract itself. This is one thing, while consummating the marriage – having sex with the wife for the first time – is another thing.

“There is no minimal age for entering marriage. You can have a marriage contract even with a 1-year-old girl, not to mention a girl of 9, 7, or 8. This is merely a contract [indicating] consent. The guardian in such a case must be the father, because the father’s opinion is obligatory. Thus, the girl becomes a wife,” he said.

“But is the girl ready for sex or not? What is the appropriate age for having sex for the first time? This varies according to environment and traditions. In Yemen, girls are married off at 9, 10, 11, 8, or 13, while in other countries, they are married off at 16. Some countries have legislated laws forbidding having sex before the girl is 18,” he said.

He confirmed, “The Prophet Muhammad is the model we follow. He took ‘Aisha to be his wife when she was 6, but he had sex with her only when she was 9.”

An interviewer asked: “My question to you is whether the marriage of a 12-year-old boy to an 11-year-old girl is a logical marriage permitted by Islamic law.”

“If the guardian is the father… There are two different types of guardianship. If the guardian is the father, and he marries his daughter off to a man of appropriate standing, the marriage is obviously valid,” said Al-Mu’bi.

“People find themselves in all kinds of circumstances. Take, for example, a man who has two, three, or four daughters. He does not have any wives, but he needs to go on a trip. Isn’t it better to marry his daughter to a man who will protect and sustain her, and when she reaches the proper age, he will have sex with her? Who says all men are ferocious wolves?” Al-Mu’bi said.

MEMRI also recently reported that Hamas Minister of Culture Atallah Abu Al-Subh made a statement on Al-Aqsa Television that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has worked diligently to help establish a Palestinian state, should be condemned as a murderer.

“Every proud Palestinian views you as a murderer, and sees the blood of the children of Palestine between your lips and on your fangs. I pray to Allah that you will soon slither away,” Al-Subh in a statement aired by Al-Aqsa.

A year ago, WND reported an online forum tied to the website of Hamas posted a photo of a little girl in a combat vest and the head band of the terrorist Al-Qassam Brigades.

The message accompanying the photo said the girl “is part of the Muslim generation which will go down in history [as a generation] … that refused to [accept] humiliation and defeat.”

MEMRI is an independent nonprofit that monitors and reports on media broadcasts and publications in the Middle East.

Hamas, which won a majority in parliament in January 2006 elections, officially is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. As WND reported, a prominent Hamas leader recently was captured on video boasting of using children, women and the elderly as human shields in its firefights with Israeli soldiers.